Supercharging The Mind - Supplementary Brain Food Snacks
A solid list of well researched "Brain Foods" - snacks that foster cleaner and clearer cognitive functions.
/BEGIN "The 20 Smartest Foods On Earth" Article Extract/
Simply put, your brain likes to eat. And it likes powerful fuel: quality fats, antioxidants, and small, steady amounts of the best carbs.
On a deadline? Need to rally? Avoid the soda, vending machine snacks and tempting Starbucks pastries and go for these powerful brain boosters instead. The path to a bigger, better brain is loaded with Omega-3 fats, antioxidants, and fiber. Give your brain a kick start: eat the following foods on a daily or weekly basis for results you will notice.
20 foods that will supercharge your brain:
1. Avocado
Start each day with a mix of high-quality protein and beneficial fats to build the foundation for an energized day. Avocado with scrambled eggs provides both, and the monounsaturated fat helps blood circulate better, which is essential for optimal brain function. Worst alternative: a trans-fat-filled, sugar-laden cream cheese Danish.
Green it: you don't need to buy an organic avocado - conventional is fine. But make sure your supplementary protein is free range, cage free, or organic.
2. Blueberries
These delicious berries are one of the best foods for you, period, but they're very good for your brain as well. Since they're high in fiber and low on the glycemic index, they are safe for diabetics and they do not spike blood sugar. Blueberries are possibly the best brain food on earth: they have been linked to reduced risk for Alzheimer's, shown to improve learning ability and motor skills in rats, and they are one of the most powerful anti-stress foods you can eat. Avoid: dried, sweetened blueberries.
Green it: buy local and organic, and be mindful of seasonality. When blueberries are out of season, opt for cranberries, grapes, goji berries, blackberries or cherries to get your brain boost.
3. Wild Salmon
Omega-3 fatty acids are essential for your brain. These beneficial fats are linked to improved cognition and alertness, reduced risk of degenerative mental disease (such as dementia), improved memory, improved mood, and reduced depression, anxiety and hyperactivity. Wild salmon is a premium source, but we'll highlight a few other sources on this list for vegetarians and people who just don't like salmon. Avoid farmed (read: sea lice infested) salmon.
Green it: the California salmon stock is threatened, so choose wild Alaskan salmon only, and eat small portions no more than twice a week.
/END Article Extract/
Note: I stipulate "snacks" (in my title here) rather than "meals" per se because [in my experience] although there may be some temptation to, I think it is best _not_ to treat this as an immediate replacement for your standard diet, wotever it may be.
I find it's best to stick primarily with what your doctor/dietitian/mum has sugged /and with whatever foods makes you feel good/
and then [optimally] get rid of the junk food and slowly replace it with these brain foods.
or at least add some of them to your repertoire the next time you're looking for snacks at the market.
The reason I don't think it's a good idea to adopt any new regimental set diet, no matter how beneficial it may be, is because in my observation variation and moderation is key ..to survival.
Salmon for example, may be an excellent source of Omega-3 but if we take too much of it in the same week, we could get hit with a mercury overdose. The same goes for too much of the same cheese and meat (bacterial strains) et cetera.
AISI taking too much of the same food in the same time frame, increases the odds of getting hit if something is wrong with the food.
Switching it up and spreading it out seems the most prudent course of dietary action.
or so says B.M (TAG's British Mum - Ed) and I think she's onto something.
What this is, is a list of foods (consistent with my own amateur research) that have been sited time and again by various medical research journals as foods that 'ave been proven to augment brain functions.
(in other words, it's not *just* some bloke's opinion on a blog - Ed)
8 times out of 2 the result of ingesting these foods seems to be: clearer thinking, at universal minimum.
They might (or might not - Ed) turn us all into Einstein, but there is a noticeable upswing in cog functions, memory and creative thinking too.
I find.
Particularly with Fish, Walnuts and Blueberries.
No doubt we all have slightly different neurophysiologies, so 'natch experiment to find which foods make you think and feel best.
Punch ((
Here)) for rest of Top 20 Smartest Foods On Earth Article.
and ))
'ere(( for cross-referencing and outside corroboration at
WebMD's Brain Foods Picture Slideshow.
The Avante Guardian. ---- Einstein's Hair^2 //Approved.
Tips on How To Improve Your Memory
How to Improve Your Memory - some very useful tips that won't cost you (or more properly Ed's lifted credit card - Ed) 20 easy payments of $19.99.
Some good practical easy to master techniques in there, though I'm not sure about the one where you look at the person and say their name.
This is not likely going to work for most males OR females.
As during introductions most males are looking at females gazonga's cursing the fact that after thousands of years of culture, and indeed millions of years of evolution, we still 'aven't figured out a way to create a socially acceptable way to reach out and nonchalantly squeeze a complete stranger's inviting delicious looking mammary gland.
(and most females are also not looking at men's faces either during introductions -Ed)
Right. Checking out our posteriors?
(lower - Ed)
Checking out our packages?
(lower - Ed)
Checking out George Clooney's package?
(*tap foot* the shoes TAG, the shoes - Ed)
Ah. I'm presently wearing mercury-silver Nike cross-trainers what does that tell the ladies?
(I dunno, but years of experience tells me that it's time to clear the area, because he's probably not wearing anything ELSE - Ed)
well it IS bloody hot.
[Pathud -Ed]
Tips on How To Improve Memory here:
http://www.wikihow.com/Improve-Your-MemoryThe Avante Guardian. ---- Einstein's Hair^2 //Approved.
Brain Experiment: Expanding Cognitive Awareness
Presently I've found myself in an interesting experiment, what is effectively an 'what is it like for a girl?' phase. In an erstwhile attempt to expand my cognitive awareness slash to understand the fairer sex a bit more, I came up with the idea of immersing myself in the stimulus that I witness femmes gravitating towards.
(^Raise-Finger-to-comment - Ed)
No Ed, I don't mean wearing skirts and dating guys.
(v-Lower-Finger - Ed)
My first (unwitting - Ed) soiree into that experiment involved reading/being seen to be reading The Vagina Monologues at Chapters book store.
1. To read the work
and
2. To see what reaction I'd get being seen reading the book (being male - Ed).
I find women in general hyper-interesting (if an enigma - Ed) *cough* And perhaps more to the point, it disconcerting that there are these entirely 'other' manners of existing out there, und finally came to the conclusion one day, 'why live your entire life one way never knowing or tasting bits of all those other existences that uh exist out there?'
At present this experiment manifests with reading femme-centric-manga, listening to femme-centric-music, reading femme-writ werks, (actually "listening" to femmes - Ed) et cetera.
My conclusion thus far is something you're no doubt already well aware of, it is very cool to be a girl.
I've discovered what I believe to be some interesting dynamics and correlations. For example, femme-selected environmental-and-sensory input (such as choice of friends, peers and music) both reflects and augments certain characteristics. Almost all of which are (in my view) oft creative, emotionally-resonating and/or intellectually-stimulating.
Although this may seem obvious from an text-book vantage point, it's one thing to hear it said, and another to experience it. If only to a small degree.
It doesn't make me want to -be- female, and probably offensively (<--and rightly so to some femmes -Ed) it makes me only that much -more- protective ("typical male" response - Ed) because like Canada as a nation, I find Women in general are magnificently special camelot-like magical beings that we are bloody lucky exist in this world.
(I loathe that [Canadian Prime Minister - Ed] Harper is threatening to turn the 49th Parallel into a meaningless - when he attempts to backdoor-dismantle Medicare through deliberate systematic omission and neglect, I hope people finally take notice and stand up for Canada and say, "that's enough 'mate, you're fired, this is Canada, we pay more in our taxes, than the Americans do FOR A REASON - because we believe in putting our money where our ideals are - we're all deaded in 100 years time anyway, what difference will it make then? let some of our tax dollars 'ave seen to it that people were helped that needed it, that no one felt like nobody cared, that nobody died alone" - money has no legacy of its own, it's how it's spent that defines us as a people. imo)
Sorry, tangent relapse.
Anyway, I would summarize the findings of my experiment this way: I find that Women ultimately are (now) defining themselves with far fewer socially-or-internally-applied inhibitors than Men do (id est. imo males have more behavior and thought inhibitors than women presently do - spreching on average).
Ergo, women are now, in my view, constructing their own, uh, constructs from a larger possible potentiality pool, with far more (internal) leverage and freedom.
And I would stipulate as a hypotheses, that imo
women are therefore presently Evolving at a higher rate.
I imagine it will balance out in the long run, as males begin our next evolutionary spurt, but, this, is the time to be a femme.
Imo.
I realize there is an observable inherent possibly offensive irony 'ere (you don't say - Ed) *cough* that I could be taken to task for, namely the audacity of a male attempting to comment on your femmes existence, but I would only say that I do not profess to fully 'understand' Women, I only profess to be trying to.
Und to be enjoying the trip.
For anyone wishing to expand their cognitive awareness, I would highly sugg attempting your own personal variation on the experiment. Immersing yourself in the opposite sex's stimuli for awhile, and examining how your mind is affected.
(^Raise-Skirt - Ed)
Go Away Ed.
[Pathud]
The Avante Guardian.
[color therapy] The Pink Diet - John Hopkins Medical Center - Pink Suppresses Appetite
We know they're up to something, but we're never sure entirely what.
What fast-food companies and advertisers don't want us to know:
According to scientific research at John Hopkins Medical Center in Baltimore, colors operate on the human brain and nervous system in a manner that produces distinct and quantifiable (repeatable) reactions in human beings.
The Science:
Physiological Functions Respond to Specific Colors.Before we list the colors and their proven effects, let's ask, what are McDonald's and Burger King's predominant colors?
when I think of McDonald's I think of the
Yellow M, when contemplating Burger King (not necessarily the new creepy homicidal mascot king, that's another subject!) I'm thinking
Orange and
Brown.
Specific colors and their proven effects.
Black: self-confidence, power, strength.
Blue: calming, lowers blood pressure, decreases respiration.
Green: soothing, relaxing mentally as well as physically, helps those suffering from depression, anxiety, nervousness.
Violet: suppresses appetite, provides a peaceful environment, good for migraines.
Pink: used in diet therapy as an appetite suppressant, relaxes muscles, relieves tension, soothing.
Yellow: energizes, relieves depression, improves memory, stimulates appetite.
Orange: energizes, stimulates appetite and digestive system.
Red: stimulates brain wave activity, increases heart rate, respirations and blood pressure, excites sexual glands.
---
^Raise-Eyebrow.
Let's back up to
Pink.
if you're on a diet or want to shed a few pounds, you can trigger appetite-suppression simply and effectively by placing something large and pink directly in your visual periphery.
id est. near PC monitor, on top of tv, on desk at work.
(or wear pink tinted sunglassess - Ed)
Waiting for the full article to go online at the John Hopkins Medical Center website. In the interim, to learn more, here's a good summary of Color therapy
Michael.
CyberNeuroPhysiological Control - Entrain your brain with your PC or your iPod
How To Infuence your Brainwaves:
THE SCIENTIFIC PRINCIPLE:
A brainwave frequency pattern ("Brainwave") co-relates directly to your state of being.
ie. happy, sad, euphoric, tired, pensive, energized, creative, sexy, et al.
Each/All human states have a specific brainwave frequency associated with them.
The base frequencies discovered:
0.5Hz - 3.5Hz Deep sleep - Delta
3.5Hz - 8Hz Drowsiness - Theta
8Hz - 13Hz Relaxed but alert - Alpha
13Hz - 30Hz Highly alert and focused - Beta
The Question: What happens if a brain-wave frequency (read on an EEG) is identical in two people. Does that mean they are in the same state?
The Answer: Yes. people with the same brain wave frequency pattern are in the same state.
The Conclusion: if you can bring about a specific brain-wave pattern in a person, that person will experience the state associated with that brain-wave pattern. They will BE in that state.
Research into generating brain-wave patterns has resulted in at least 2 present day medicinal scientific fields: biofeedback-therapy and neurofeedback-therapy.
Click here for CNN article on biofeedback and neurofeedbackBut we don't all want to attach electrodes to our head.
Thankfully, there are other ways to influence brain waves.
Today sound (audio/binaural brainwave frequency influence) and images (strobe-light brainwave frequency influence) can be used to influence and bring about specific brain-wave patterns and therefore states.
You can test this yourself by getting a Brainwave generator (on the Web) with sound files to influence your brain-wave pattern and change your state.
A
Brainwave Generator with state-generating sound-files for your multimedia PC or iPod can be
Downloaded Hereread more about the science behind the brainwave generator hereMichael.
Increase Study Alertness with 10 minute Brainwave-Synchronization Audio File
FROM:
http://www.grasshopper.com/mind-games/digital-expresso/BEGIN Article Excerpt:
Digital Espresso
Replace coffee with this mp3 designed to entrain your brain
If you’ve stopped drinking coffee but miss the buzz, this one’s for you. Wake up in the morning, afternoon —get extra mental energy and focus before studies or meetings with this 10 minute entrainment from grasshopper.com. Digital Espresso uses a research protocol successful with patients of CFS, depression, ADHD and found to reliably increase energy and motivation. Put on some headphones, kick back, close your eyes and let the pulses massage your brain and the frequencies wake up those slacker neurons. A high speed connection is recommended.END article.
Begin Opine (mine)
This Brain Hack works.
Stumbled onto audio induced brainwave-synchronization by accident a few months back when I jacklinked the PC's soundcard into a Panasonic ghetto blaster's (only available) input: the mic port.
The subsequent sound bleeding led to white noise at pitch levels and intervals (creating a crackling/popping rhythm) that observably relaxed my brain when surfing the interweb.
The
Digital Expresso audio (see above) conversely is designed as an mental energy booster.
Introspectively, I find it acts best as a brain-hemisphere "balancer", where it generates the sensation of cleanliness and equilibrium within the mind.
Like an etch-a-sketch that has just been shook clean and is ready and waiting to have its knobs fiddled about with.
10 minute
Digital Expresso brainwave synchronization audio file located --->
Hereregards,
Michael.
